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mark@greenhill wrote:
As long as it's a multistory car park, yes, wonderful idea.

At least it might actually pay for itself, rather than the present white elephant.

Seriously, if all the people who cry about it closing, used it more than twice a year, it would still be viable. As it is, it isn't &amp; never will be, &amp; unless it pays for itself, it should close.

Agreed- lots of people make noise when you try and close a loss making service, yet if people ACTUALLY used it.

Ditto bus services, local post offices, the local shop, the local pub...

If you want to preserve something, then use it.

The council offices and old fire station area could be redeveloped along the same lines as what you find in a European resort- shops and restaurants with flats above. It could be really good- also, look to sell of the car parks near Debenhams and near Wilkinson for development- retain the freehold and the ground level for parking. The rest can be used for residential development.

Yes, many of the properties will be out of reach for "locals" but the developer has to make money. As long as a provision is made towards "affordable" housing, it could be a win win situation."

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The council is also considering selling off other council assets including seafront hotels and reducing the number of councillors as it struggles will cuts which means it will be spending £3.9 million less each year by 2019/20.

And residents will be asked their views on far-reaching proposals by councillors in a bid to protect front line services and keep council tax down.

A spokesman said that over the past two years the amount of money the borough council receives from the Government has fallen by 28 per cent. Further large cuts are anticipated until 2019/20.

The proposals include demolishing the Pavilion and turning the site into a car park which could also be used for other activities similar to how thw present forecourt is used.

It is also planned to sell the Guildhall in St Edmudn Street and the main council offices on North Quay and relocate staff tio the council offices at the depot in Chickerell.

He said: “Like householders, the council has also seen many of its costs, such as fuel and energy, rise far ahead of inflation. Income and the value of its investments has also fallen.

“The borough council needs to take a longer term view and prepare for a future where it is spending far less each year says the report to the borough council’s Management Committee on 4 December.”

The Budget Working Group issued the following joint statement: “Facing an historically difficult time for local government funding, local councillors set aside political differences to establish a cross party Budget Working Group that has been undertaking detailed strategic planning work for several months.

“Whilst other councils are failing, this budget is the first of several that will secure the long term provision of essential and valued services to our Weymouth & Portland community.

“We committed ourselves to protect those services that make a real difference to the quality of life of our most vulnerable residents such as our homelessness prevention work and housing advice service, those services we all rely upon such as our current regular refuse collection and those services that perform a vital task in protecting local residents as with our environmental health work.

“We will protect essential services by: • Restructuring non essential discretionary services • Rationalising the property portfolio including the disposal of the Council Offices and Guildhall.

• Set aside sufficient funding to maintain council assets that are retained • Reducing the number of councillors and moving to a four yearly election cycle • Reducing management costs through further partnership work “Weymouth & Portland Borough Council has an excellent track record in protecting services. When other councils were already cutting back we stripped out waste from our core services and we led the country with a ground breaking partnership with West Dorset District Council reducing management costs and producing ongoing savings in excess of £2 million for the two councils.

“This budget paper seeks to reform how we deliver non essential services starting with alternate ways of providing for the performing arts and tourist information. We acknowledge that these reforms will not be universally welcomed and that they will lead to the loss of council jobs with the inevitable distress for the employees affected.

“However if we fail to tackle the problem we will condemn all services, including those most critical to the well being of our residents, to a slow, painful and protracted demise.”